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Carlene is a writer, editor and social media strategist. She is a former staff writer at The Guardian and continues to contribute. She has worked at WGSN (the world’s leading trend forecasting company), Cannes Lion and Hearst Magazines. She has freelanced for i-D Magazine, Industrie Magazine, Look Magazine, Mixmag Magazine, Asos Magazine, ModMods.com (the digital fashion pure play site from Metro International), The Observer and Grazia Magazine.

Events

Her recent speaking engagements include: 2017 Fast Company Innovation Festival, The Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, Fordham University in New York, the London Met University and Second Home’s Innovation day in London as part of Tech Week 2018.

Podcast

This year she set up her own podcast about the social and economic benefits of diverse hiring across industries called Reppin Culture on Soundcloud. She recently collaborated with WGSN on the launch of its Gen Z report that looked at how this young, savvy and diverse generation is changing the retail landscape.

Mentoring

She is currently a mentor with the independent mentorship programme set up by Kenya Hunt, deputy editor of Elle Magazine UK. The group works with London university students of Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds in an effort to help create community and create opportunities in the workplace.

Other Writing

She is currently working on a collection of short stories and was recently accepted on a workshop as part of Penguin Random House’s #WRITENOW scheme that looks to promote writers from underrepresented communities in publishing. The workshop included a panel discussion from authors Emma Morgan, Kerry Hudson, Kit de Waal, Nikesh Shukla, Sally Green and Sara Collins. It also included an editorial one to one feedback session with Penguin fiction editor Emily Griffin.

She also works with new writers to help them build their platform and personal brand on social media, so that they are better equipped to promote their writing and find their community of potential readers.